Between 1996 and 2006, the number of uninsured children in families with income between 100 percent and 200 percent of the poverty level fell 25 percent, according to testimony by Peter Orszag, director of the Congressional Budget Office. Orszag attributes the drop to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
The states’ outreach efforts and simplified enrollment processes for SCHIP appear to have also increased the share of eligible children who participate in Medicaid--and contributed to a decline in the percentage of children below the poverty level who are uninsured, said Orszag, in testimony before the Subcommittee on Health Care of the Senate Finance Committee on April 9.
Orszag admitted there has been some displacement, or “crowd out,” of private coverage. The enrollment of children in public coverage as a result of SCHIP has not led to a one-for-one reduction in the number of low-income children who are uninsured, however; on the basis of a review of the research literature, CBO has concluded that for every 100 children who gain public coverage as a result of SCHIP, there is a corresponding reduction in private coverage of between 25 and 50 children. Read the testimony.
